Associate dean hired to oversee WSU medical training in Everett

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 10, 2017

EVERETT — A former chief medical officer at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett has been hired to oversee student training here for Washington State University’s new Spokane-based medical school.

Dr. Larry Schecter will be an associate dean to administer medical education programs at WSU’s campus in Everett.

“His local ties with the medical community, passion for educating future physicians and ability to connect with and coach medical students make him an ideal fit to establish and grow medical education on our campus in Everett,” said Paul Pitre, chancellor of WSU North Puget Sound at Everett.

Schecter is one of three new associate deans hired to work at clinical campuses across the state. Dr. Kevin Murray will serve in the same role in Vancouver, and Dr. Farion Williams will be the lead in Tri-Cities. Dr. Dawn DeWitt, who has been working for WSU, will take on the role for the Spokane campus.

The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, named after WSU’s late president, received preliminary accreditation last fall.

The medical school is launching a community-based training model in which students spend the first two years doing classroom work in Spokane but then get more clinical experience and more classroom work either in Spokane or in Everett, the Tri-Cities or Vancouver.

In Everett, WSU has reached agreements with Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and The Everett Clinic to help teach the medical students. More than 680 people applied by late November to attend the medical school, which is accepting 60 for admission. The school is only taking students from Washington or those with ties to the state.

The goal is to attract talented students to serve in rural and underserved communities. The first class of students will be headed to Spokane this fall. But they also will spend several weeks over the next two years on the clinical campuses.

Schecter, who lives in Redmond, started his new job this week. He will have an office in WSU’s new building at 915 N. Broadway, which will open this fall. His salary wasn’t immediately available.

He practiced general surgery in Santa Monica, California, for 30 years. He became chairman of surgery at both St. John’s Hospital and Santa Monica Hospital. He was chief medical officer of Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center and associate professor of surgery at the UCLA School of Medicine.

He moved with his family to the Northwest in 2003, when he became the chief medical officer of Providence Regional Medical Center.

In Everett, he created the Physician Leadership Development program that was later incorporated throughout the greater Providence Health and Services System. He later became chief medical officer of the Western Washington Region of Providence.